Adjustable choke



APril 14, 1953 R. v. VELEZ ErAL 2,634,537

'ADJUSTABLE cHoKE Filed Dec. 1s, 194s INVENTOR$ @4F/m n raiz L am i.,Vasa/v Patented Apr. 14, 1953 UNITED ADJUSTABLE CHOKE Rafael VillahaVelez and Lloyd E. Nelson, San Francisco, Calif.

Application December 13, 1948, Serial No. 64,946

2 Claims.

This invention relates to an adjustable choke for a shot gun.

It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved form ofadjustable choke for a shot gun.

It is a further object of the invention to provide an adjustable chokefor a shot gun which is capable of functioning more eiiciently.

It is a particular object of the invention to provide an adjustablechoke including a compressible member which obviates certaindisadvantages inherent in adjustable chokes as previously designed.

These and other objects of the invention will be apparent from theensuing description and the appended claims.

One form which the invention may assume is exemplified in the followingdescription and illustrated by way of example in the accompanyingdrawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of the adjustable choke of the inventionshowing it attached to the end of a gun barrel.

Fig. 2 is a similar elevational view taken at right angles to the viewof Fig. l.

Fig. 3 is a section taken along the line 3-3 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a section taken along the line 4-4 of Fig. 3.

Referring now to the drawings, there is shown an adjustable chokegenerally designated as l which. as illustrated in Fig. 3, is inthreaded engagement at H with a gun barrel l2. The choke l comprises arearward or recoil section i3 having slots I4 formed therein and aforward solid tubular portion l5. As illustrated, the slots I4 areformed along the sides of the choke body, and they are disposed nearerthe top than the bottom of the choke body. This is advantageous, becausethe gases resulting from discharge of the gun are tanned upwardly andoutwardly, resulting in less recoil. As also shown, the choke body isgrooved rearwardly of the slots I4 to provide ns 14a. The groovinglightens the choke and results in more rapid heat dissipation.

The forward portion I5 is formed with an internal annular ange l5ahaving a rearward shoulder S6 and a forward, somewhat steeper shoulderl1, and at its forward end the choke is threaded at I8 as illustrated.Disposed within the choke body is a compressible choke sleeve havingforward slots 26 extending from the outer end of the sleeve inwardly butshort oi the inner end of the sleeve, and alternating therewith arerearward slots 21 which are similarly formed but commence at the innerend of the sleeve and terminate short of the outer end thereof. Thesleeve 25 is of uniform outside diameter but, as illustrated, it has aninside taper such that the internal diameter decreases from the rear endto the forward end thereof.

It will be seen that by this construction, including alternating forwardand rearward slots, when pressure is applied to the sleeve as describedhereinafter the entire sleeve will contract in diameter uniformlythroughout its length.

The sleeve 25 is beveled at both ends, at 28 and 29, and the beveledrearward shoulder 28 abuts the forward shoulder l1 of the annular ange|5a.

An internally threaded cap 35 is provided having a central bore oropening 36 formed therein and also having an annular shoulder 31complemental to and normally abutting the forward shoulder 29 of thesleeve 25. The cap 35 is also formed at its inner edge with notches 38,each having a corresponding number or indicia 39, and adjacent the inneredge of the cap 35 the choke body is grooved to provide annular grooves40 which may he marked S for skeet, M for modified and F for full choke.

A sight generally designated as 4| is also pro- Avided, comprising astepped body portion 42 which is secured to the choke body by means of ascrew 43 passing through the sight body and through a tongue 44 formedthereunder. A latch member 45 is provided having a pointed key or pawl46 and the latch member 45 is supported for limited sliding movement byengagement of the tongue 44 with a slot 41 formed in the latch member.The latch member 45 is urged forwardly by means of a coil spring 48received within a socket 49 formed in the sight body 42. A prism 55 isprovided, being pinned to the sight body by means of a pin 56. rlheprism may be constructed of any suitable transparent or translucentreflecting material, such as Lucite, and it is provided with ahorizontal surface 51 to receive rays of light, a diagonal or aninclined reilecting surface 58 disposed at 45 to the surface 51, and arearward vertical surface 59 for transmitting the reected light alongthe gun barrel.

In assembling the structure thus described, the choke l0 is, of course,threaded on to the end of a gun barrel, the sight having been previouslysecured to the choke in the manner indicated hereinabove. The chokesleeve 25 is placed in Ithe forward end of the choke body until itsrearward shoulder 28 abuts the forward shoulder I'I of the annular angeI 5a. The cap 35 is then threaded on to the forward end of the chokebody, thus causing its shoulder 3l to abut the forward shoulder 29 ofthe choke sleeve, and also causing the latch member 45 to be pressedagainst the inner edge of the cap. The cap is screwed on to the chokebody until the pawl is located in the desired notch 38. For even greaterconvenience, the grooves 49 are provided; when the inner edge of the cap35 is at, say, the S groove, a mere glance will indicate the setting ofthe choke.

It will thus be apparent that an adjustable choke for a shot gun hasbeen provided which is simple in construction and inexpensive tofabricate, easily assembled and mounted and very easily adjusted. Theadvantage of the alternate slotting of the choke sleeve has beendiscussed above. In performance, better bunching of the shot at anysetting of the choke results from this slotting feature, and from thesmooth, tapered bore from the shoulder I6 to the outer end of the sleeve25.

The cap 35 and the latching means 45 are advantageous because they allowrapid adjustment of the choke.

The sight described above is of considerable utility in that, asindicated, light rays coming from above are reflected and more or lessconcentrated in a beam traveling the length of the gun barrel. This formof sight is of great ad vantage in sightinga gun against a darkbackground as, for example, at dusk or by starlight or moonlight. Thesight may be used with a rifle to even greater advantage than with aShot gun.

The compressible choke sleeve 25 may be replaced by a choke sleevehaving a fixed diam-l eter. For example` if it is desired to use thechoke I0 for a specialized purpose, as for Skeet shooting, a xeddiameter sleeve (not shown) corresponding to the Skeet pattern may besubstituted for the compressible sleeve 25.

While we have shown the preferred form of our invention, it is to beunderstood that various changes may be made in its construction by thoseskilled in the art without departing froml the spirit of the inventionas dened in the appended claims.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim and desire to secureby letters Patent is: 1. An adjustable choke comprising a tubular chokebody having an annular ange formed therein and spaced from the outer endof said body, said flange presenting a forward sloping shoulder and arearward sloping shoulder, a cornpressible tubular sleeve adapted to bereceived within the forward end of saidchoke body, said sleeve beingformed with shoulders at both ends and with longitudinal slots, some ofwhich extend from one end toward but short of the other end and othersextending oppositely, and a cap in threaded engagement with the forwardend of said choke body and operable upon being threaded inwardly to urgesaid sleeve against said forward shoulder and thereby cause contractionof said sleeve.

2. An adjustable choke comprising a, tubular choke body having anannular flange formed therein and spaced from the ou-ter end of saidbody, said flange presenting a forward sloping shoulder and a rearwardsloping shoulder, a compressible tubular sleeve adapted to be receivedwithin the forward end of said choke body, said sleeve having aforwardly tapering inside dia-meter and being formed with shoulders atboth ends and with longitudinal slots, some of which extend from one endtoward but short of the other end and others extending oppositely, and acap in threaded engagement with the forward end of said choke body andoperable upon being threaded inwardly to urge said sleeve against saidforward shoulder and thereby cause contraction of said sleeve.

RAFAEL VILLAHA VELEZ. LLOYD E. NELSON.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS NumberName Date Re. 20,958 White Dec. 27, 1938 282,044 Bonwill July 31, 18831,716,331 Stowell June 4, 1929 2,143,596 Galliot et al. Jan. 10, 19392,153,246 Gibson Apr. 4, 1939 2,191,484 Hughes Feb. 27, 1940 2,246,174Howells June 17, 1941 2,348,114 Dow May 2, 1944 2,398,298 Finlay et al.Apr. 9, 1946 2,439 086 Hanley Apr. 6, 1948 2,453,121 Cutts Nov. 9, 19482,453,747 Egleson Nov. 16, 1948 2,465,836 Benjamin Mar. 29, 19492,466,104 Hilburn Apr. 5, 1949 2,476,438 Wright July 19, 1949 2,527,988Dillon Oct. 31, 1950 2,558,200 Schmeling June 26, 1951

